The Year of the Allium Revisited
Last year I declared it “the year of the allium” and was determined to experiment with growing more varieties of alliums to get us through the year. As a result of my efforts I was able to produce about 80% of the onions we ate. I just used up the last of my bulb onions from the pantry
I am currently harvesting leeks that were overwintered along with some winter hardy bunching onions. The Egyptian Walking Onions are just getting to the point of harvest as well. I will probably have to buy some bulb onions at the store to get me through when the leeks run out. Green onions are great, but they just can’t take the place of caramelized onions in soup or an omelette.
The last few evenings have found me out in the garden direct seeding onions, planting my onion seedlings, and wishing I had my onion sets and plants that are on order. The bed I’m planting them in was manured heavily last fall, which hopefully will amount to good sized onions this summer. With the amount of onions I’m planting this spring, this coming year may finally be the year in which I don’t have to buy an onion from the farmer’s market.
My goal has never really been to grow 100% percent of the food that we eat. I enjoy supporting local farmers and I don’t really have the space to do that here at Chiot’s Run. That being said, onions at the farmer’s market are quite expensive and I know I can save a lot more money using my planting space for onions rather than cabbage or zucchini.
Is there a certain kind of vegetable or fruit that you’re like this with? One that you choose to grow instead of something else either to save money or because you can’t find it locally?
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Hello Spring
It’s officially spring! We’re certainly having the weather for it already; it’s been pretty warm for NE Ohio. The soil is still really soggy so I can’t work in the garden, at least not doing anything major. As a result I’ve been spending my days doing some spring cleaning outside: washing the windows, scrubbing the siding, painting the shutters, cleaning the deck, etc.
Dexter is enjoying the spring weather just as much as I have, though not by doing anything useful. He lays on the porch in the sun while I work away, occasionally coming over to rub on my legs to command some attention.
Hopefully you have a chance to get outside to enjoy spring today or soon!
Does it feel like spring in your garden yet?
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OOOOOPS
Yesterday was a beautiful day, so of course I was working outside. I wan’t working in the garden, scrubbing the house was the task of the day. Into the garage I went to grab something I needed and OOOOOPS there were 2 big pots that were filled with tulips that I potted up to force.
The poor things were all pale from the lack of sunlight and kind of sad looking. I quickly carried them outside and gave them a dose of water. They should green up within a day or two.
The funny thing is that they’re not any farther ahead of the tulips that are planted in the ground. So I guess forcing them to bloom early didn’t happen. At least nothing will be lost, they’ll still bloom, just not as early as I had planned!
Have you had any OOOOPS moments in the garden lately?
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You Asked for It
I’ve been watching and trying to figure out when the flowering bulbs in the front lawn would be a peak. It started a week and a half ago with the early blooms in lavender, light blue and even some soft pink crocuses. About a week later the late ones started to emerge in their shades of dark purple. The same day, I noticed a mini daffodils as well. I decided yesterday was peak, the early blooms are starting to fade and a good number of daffodils were in bloom. I found myself taking photos to share with you since you all asked to see it at peak. Here’s what my front lawn looked like yesterday.
You may think I planted these because I love crocuses. They do look lovely, but my main reason for planting them was for the bees. Crocuses are one of the earliest sources of pollen and my lawn is abuzz with honeybees madly collecting pollen as an early spring meal. I’m happy knowing that I’m giving them a better chance of survival with an early source of food.
Have you spotted any honeybees in your garden yet?
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Keeping Track
Along with all the garden chores, I’ve also been busy doing a few things around the house. Since the weather has been so nice, I’ve been staining a few of the doors that need a fresh coat and a few that have never been stained (in rooms without hardwood floors). When doing projects where you’re taking down doors or removing blinds, it’s easy to misplace screws and hardware. After this happened once, I started saving a few yogurt containers for such occasions. Now, whenever doors and other things come down, all the hardware goes right into a container so nothing is ever lost. It works like a charm!
You could also put all the hardware into zippered storage bags and tape/attach them to the item as well, this is especially handy if you’re planning on storing them for a while. We have blinds that are removed in winter and stored in the attic. In summer they get put back up to help block the sun/heat from coming in the front windows. All the hardware is kept in labeled bags attached to the blinds.
We love our house, but as with most, it came with it’s share of things we didn’t love. The good thing is that the basics were solid, good windows, lots of insulations. etc. The decorative features were all as cheap as they could be, including faucets, doors, trim, etc. The doors and moulding in the house were paint grade and were stained by the original owner to a very less than inspiring “natural” wood tone. Since we installed lovely dark hardwood flooring throughout the house, it made the moulding/doors look even worse than they had with pink and blue carpet. We toyed with the idea of changing them out but it was too expensive. Then we thought about painting them but didn’t think that would look good with the dark floors.
Instead of replacing them, we decided to try to stain what was here. I mixed a can of Minwax Wood Finish in Walnut and Red Mahogany together and set to staining. The results are nothing less than amazing. The color of the doors and trim now almost perfectly match the color of our floors.
It’s amazing what you can do with a little bit of a time and a few dollars to make something you already have look great! I was so glad I came up with this plan instead of replacing or painting our exciting moulding & doors. They look great and they match the floors and it saved me a ton of money!
Any great tips for making those home improvement projects go more smoothly? What about tips for taking what you already have and making it look better?
